I was wondering about what to do about waiting in the ER for over 9 hours in the hallway on a Cot? I was wondering how many patient go through this and what there is to do about it? (I went by ambulance because it was an emergency.) I think it's very sad, within those 9 hours I had 1 medication that did not help, (gave me Tachycardia) had stroke like symptoms with migraine and not one x ray, CT or MRI! I have been suffering now for 13 days. They said they did all they could do, but this is not true there are many medications they could have tried! Or even Kept me overnight to see what would actually be beneficial to me. So I get to continue to suffer or try another ER, that I will end up paying more for. I'm just very upset and wondering how many people are suffering like this? Thank you for any and all replies. "also this was supposedly one of the best Hospital here"

Responses (6)

I am so sorry. The only time I every went to the ER for migraine they did an MRI right away. They assumed stroke and went from there. I don't remember much as I was in-and-out, but I did not wait the hallway at all.

It is unfortunate but it can happen especially if the ER happens to be very busy. In a lot of instances, too many people use the ER as their source of primary care and this puts a lot of stress on the ER staff and patients waiting to be seen (like yourself that night) As a nurse who works for an insurance company, I try to instruct my patients NOT to use the ER for non-emergency issues. It is better and more cost effective to use 1) a primary care Drs office or 2) Urgent Care for things like earaches, sore throats and non emergency things that people have let go on too long or they just dont have a primary care doc established. We tend to see this more in people who have government assistance, like Medicaid. I'm not implying that all medicaid patients do this, but many do, since it doesnt cost them more to go to the ER.

Some privately insured members are just as bad if their insurance fully covers ER visits without a high copay. They can use the ER without making an appointment or the hassle of seeing a "regular" doctor but unfortunately this clogs up the ER with patients who do not have true emergencies and when ER's are overflowing, this overflow often goes into hallways and truly, it is an indignity when everyone passing is looking at you and you dont feel good anyway and it is an insult to your privacy! ER's have changed a lot in the past 10 years or so. It used to be, if you went into the ER for a problem, you got blood work and tests until the reason for your illness was found or you were admitted for further testing. Not anymore! Nowadays, the ER will just stabilize you until you can see another non-emergency provider. I have seen instances where people go the the ER with fractures and they dont even set a fracture anymore. You may or may not get pain medication, ice and perhaps a sling then sent on your way to follow up with an orthopedic doctor to set the bone and cast or brace days later! (this happened to my own mother when she fell and fractured her humerus-the bone wasnt set until 3-5 days after she fell) I was shocked that they didnt set it in the ER. If you go in for heart problems or strokes, they stabilize you then send you to a specialist later. If they cannot stabilize you, then you will be admitted until such time as you are stable then you are sent home. They dont do all they could do, they do all they would do for you! I would assume that your vital signs were stable so they sent you home to follow up with either your primary or another doctor (specialist) depending on your insurance plan. Things will get even worse once socialized medicine is fully in place. I know I will get a lot of backlash for saying so on here because many on here are "pro-Obamacare" but mark my words and remember. Things will get even worse. We Americans are not used to this sort of health care and dont expect government health care to be the same as it is now only "free". There will be a lot less choice and a lot more of only getting a procedure or test if it is deemed "cost effective" Been to the DMV lately? That is what going to your Dr will be like! Okay, let me step down. I dont want to make this a political argument. I hope you can get to the bottom of your problem So Much Pain, and I hope you feel better soon! It is sad that you didnt get the help that you needed. For all of you who know "those people" who use the ER as a primary care doctor, please educate them to use the medical system correctly and not burden the ER with non-emergency issues. Utilize your Drs offices, Urgent Care and same day clinics like "minute clinic" or what-have- you. Everyone should have a "medical home" consisting of a primary care doctor that you trust. Leave the ER for true emergencies-chest pain, stroke symptoms, etc. Many times even stitches can be done at Urgent Care but if there are no close UC's around, lacerations that need stitching are ER worthy. Just try to be courteous and aware when choosing the proper utilization of health care resources. Once we are all getting health care through our government, we will need to be more conscious of proper health care utilization than ever.

You are so right about people using ER's when it is not the best way to treat. I grew up in a large city with all kinds of hospitals. I have been in 2 large centers run by universities. I have also been in the large county hospital, in-patient and ER. I was put in the hall, but have waited longer in other ER's.These county hospitals which have a direct relationship with a large university medical center, are some of the busiest, as well as the best in Dr.'s and medical students. please remember they are over run,and do their best.

Hi, this is the way things are going in the UK now also. It is very stressful on the hospital staff, and the percentage of staffing in this area is at an all time low. The government is paying a lot of money in to our national health system, and there are considerations about charging people to use the emergency services now. I totally agree with you. I was bitten by a dog on my face last year, and i had to sit in the waiting room for about 5 hours(?) to be stitched up. I was bleeding and traumatised, but the hospital was so busy that night, that i couldn't be seen sooner!

I'm 32yrs I was born with some problems had a surgery when I was a month old then I was fine until I was 9 from then all I have had 189 surgerys and every time I go to the ER they always manage to put me n the hall I hate it because you never know what the others out there in that hall might have that I can get

Unfortunately it's way too common to wait for many hours EXCEPT when you come in with a possible stroke or heart attack. If you were waiting 9 hours, never had a CT scan and WERE having a stroke, then you need to contact a liability attorney since you could possibly have gotten a drug (tPa) to alleviate most of your stroke disabilities. That's what I understood from your response, that it was a stroke. Otherwise, yes, people do wait for hours with no care in the ER at a major university medical system near us. Instead I go to a much smaller city who usually gets me in within 30 minutes and I usually have the IV treatment within an hour and a half. For years I had to go in about every 3 to 4 weeks for my migraines. For my stroke, they stabilized me, then sent me off by ambulance to a far bigger hospital where I was admitted right away. I also had to go there for 2 major falls where they had to do massive x-rays and stitches--this some time after my stroke.

In addition to concerns over patient safety, the impetus to keep patients away from the ED has virtually disappeared for two reasons. Firstly, HCFA now strictly enforces EMTALA, which mandates that EDs at least provide a screening examination for all patients. Secondly, and most importantly, non-urgent visits are no longer believed to be the main cause of overcrowding. To understand this last concept, overcrowding of the triage area (that is, waiting room) must be differentiated from overcrowding of the patient treatment areas.

Non-urgent visits cause extremely crowded waiting rooms but reportedly do not cause crowding in the ED treatment areas, because the highest acuity patients are always brought into the treatment areas first. In fact, the total number of ED visits has been reported to poorly correlate with ED overcrowding. The notion that non-urgent patients are the main cause of the ED overcrowding crisis has now been abandoned. We now realise that the true causes of ED overcrowding are much more complex, and include (1) inadeqate inpatient capacity, (2) higher severity of illness, and (3) hospital system. As a direct result of cost-containment initiatives, hospitals have eliminated inpatient beds in order to maintain a high census (that is, a completely “full house” at all times).Ambulance diversion also plays a role, as population growth the ED has not most hospitals ED are old and cannot take on the load that is necessary.